


Epiphany

by moonlittides



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Internal Conflict, mentions of Elena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 19:36:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12848079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlittides/pseuds/moonlittides
Summary: Damon is still reeling from the loss of Elena, but he's about to come to a realistation about Bonnie that will change everything. Based on 7x02.





	Epiphany

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a long time ago when season 7 of the show was still airing. It's essentially the internal thoughts and feelings of Damon throughout 7x02, the bits in between that took place off-screen and how he comes to realise he's in love with Bonnie.

It's been 23 days since Elena went into slumber and surprisingly I haven't spiraled into a deep, dark pit of despair and rage...yet. I guess, travelling across half of Europe, drowning myself in alcohol and having my best buddy to share the grief of the loss of the women we love has proved to be the perfect distraction. And having Bonnie around isn't so bad, either. Although her constant mothering of Ric and I annoys me on the surface, there's a part of me that is glad to have her voice of reason to keep me grounded, because after 4 months of it on The Other Side, I've grown to depend on it, on her. Being in her presence generally causes me to burn with irritation, but likewise, I find comfort in the insults exchanged between us and the petty rows we engage in, because that's simply how we communicate.

I put the bottle of foreign beer to my lips and take a swig. It's already warm from the burning European heat, but I take another gulp nonetheless. Everyday has been like this since we left Mystic Falls; Ric and I perched outside a bar in some town that we don't know, in a country that we've forgotten the name of, submerging ourselves in beer and spirits, whilst Bonnie lingers in the background keeping a watchful eye on us.

"I can't feel my cheeks," Ric moans, rubbing his face with his hands. "What are we drinking?"

I tilt the bottle that's in my hands and look at the label that is covered in a foreign language and reply with, "No idea. Can you read German?"

"Actually, Dutch."

"Oh," I say with a frown, before looking about me and asking with confusion, "Wait. Where are we?"

"Amsterdam," Bonnie answers from behind us.

We swing round to face her and she has her head down, pen on paper reading the words aloud as she writes them. "Dear Elena...yep, halfway around Europe and they're still drunk..."

"Is that really necessary?" Ric says.

She looks up from the journal and says, "Elena told me to keep a journal of everything she's missing. When she wakes up in 60 some years and finds out Ric died of alcohol poisoning, she's gonna wanna know what happened."

I smile and hit back with, "Unless you tragically choke to death on those cocktail peanuts, then I can tell her myself."

She raises her eyebrows and glares at me before replying with, "So sweet," and this is exactly the kind of camaraderie that I have grown to enjoy with her.

She sighs and then closes her journal, giving some speech about renting a bike like a normal tourist, to which I reply with some sarcastic comment and she leaves, although the smile she's put on my face lingers for a few more seconds.

* * *

 

It's only 10 minutes before Bonnie abandons the bike idea and returns to the table, where Ric and I have already managed to consume 5 more shots in her absence. The difference in our tolerances means that Ric is so plastered that he can barely string a sentence along, whilst I'm merely lightly buzzed. Bonnie tuts disapprovingly and my phone beings to ring. It's Stefan. I stare at the screen for a few seconds, hesitant to answer, because I want to remain in my bubble. A bubble which is completely free from Mystic Falls and all of the crap that goes with it. But just before the phone is about to ring out, Bonnie prompts me to answer it and I do. I hear Stefan sigh before I even hear him speak and immediately know he has bad news. He wastes no time in informing me that Lily has successfully managed to bring back her family of heretics, and by now I'm so used to receiving this kind of news that it doesn't even affect me. In fact, my initial reaction is to laugh. To laugh in disbelief at what my life has become. When Stefan asks to speak to Ric because he needs help making a bomb, I happily hand over the phone, intolerable to hearing another word about Lily. After a few impatient and drunken words from Ric, he discards the phone, mumbles something incoherent and stumbles away from the table. I look over at Bonnie and her face is serious and solemn.

"Lily won," she says. "We did everything to stop her...she actually got her family back."

Unlike her, I don't feel disappointed or defeated to learn that Lily has her family back, I just don't care. I'm here, she's there and right now it's not my problem.

"Stefan says he's got it, he's got it," I reply dismissively.

"Do you really believe that? Or is that just some excuse so you can continue your slow crawl towards rock bottom?"

She sees straight through me and I don't like it. Immediately my defenses go up and I snap, "Do you know how many days need to tick by before I see Elena again? 22,916 days, and that's assuming you get some old person's disease. I haven't even begun to approach rock bottom."

For a moment I see a flicker of something in her eyes, and I'm not sure if it's sadness, pity or sympathy or a combination of all of them.

"Listen to yourself, Damon," she starts. "Elena wanted you to live your life."

She's the voice of reason, and I know that she's attempting to console me, but instead of thanking her for being such a constant in my life over the passing months and for getting me through the 4 months on The Other Side and the last few weeks without Elena, I continue to hit back at her.

"Bon, if you're going to be here, you don't get to play the 'What Would Elena Do' game."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asks, a frown on her face.

I look at her for a few moments and relent with a simple, "Nothing."

The truth is, I don't want to fight with Bonnie, not about Elena and not unless it has some playful backdrop to it, so I put an end to it before it goes any further. I reach for a glass from the table and take a sip of a warm, bitter liquid.

"Urgh! I've had some jenky-ass bourbon in my time, but this is..." I slide the glass across the table to her and she smells it before taking a sip. She then raises her eyebrows at me, slides the glass back across to me and states, "It's not bourbon, it's tea." I smell it and then look up to meet her face, and I can see a hint of her smile on her face, and just like that we are back to being pals again.

* * *

 

When half an hour passes and Ric still hasn't returned, we get up and wander about the city to look for him. The streets are lined with endless arrays of market stalls and bustling with the sounds of music and buzz of people, and as we search the crowds for Ric's face, I realise it could be a while until we find him.

"Ric was right here. How did we lose him?" Bonnie asks, frustrated.

"You're wearing terrible shoes for trailing someone, your eyes suck and you're slow," I say, with a smile.

"Oh. I'm slow? You just spent the last few weeks in Europe with a guy pretending to be drunk and you didn't even notice," she retorts.

"True," I reply, swinging round to face her, smile still on my face.

"So, which way do you wanna go?" she asks.

Suddenly I notice a grey truck turn into the road that we're standing in the middle of. Bonnie is still talking, unaware of the truck that is speeding towards her from behind. Her voice echoes around me as nothing more than a whisper, whilst images of Elena's face flood my consciousness, momentarily paralyzing me from doing what I know I should. If I stand by and do nothing, in less than 24 hours I could have Elena back in my arms again... But when the truck is just mere inches from her, my entire body jerks and in an instant, she is out of the road and up against a parked car. Her breathing is jagged, her eyes wide with surprise and my hands are on her forearms, our bodies pressed against each other. I linger for a moment, unable to breakaway from her touch, unable to believe that for a second then I almost contemplated letting her die. She looks to the side and then back to me.

"Wow...thank you," she says breathlessly.

I shift back from her slightly, concerned that she can feel the pounding of my heart against her.

"Yeah...of course," I say, smiling down on her.

I step away and a smile of genuine wonderment and awe comes across her face. It's a smile I never expected to see upon her face, at least not when she's looking at me, but then again she never expected me to save her life once, let alone twice. After a few moments the smile falls from her face and she moves away from the car and back into the middle of the road, to look at where the truck just came from.

"Hang on," she says. "Did you see that truck coming?"

"What?" I say, not knowing what I can possibly say to defend my actions.

"Did you just hesitate to save my life?" she says, turning round to face me.

I shrug and casually say, "Relax, it was just three seconds."

"Three seconds? You know I could've died," she says her voice serious.

I pretend that I don't understand why she's so concerned, that I don't know that she could've died just now and it would've been my fault. The second I grabbed her, I knew I'd made a mistake by hesitating for even a moment, because if Bonnie died it would...destroy me, but I can't take it back, all I can do now is make it all about Elena.

"You're right, Bon. Had I done nothing, Elena would be here and it would all be grand."

She shakes her head and frowns at me. "Enough," she says her voice firm. "I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life thinking you resent me."

The truth is, there have been minutes, hours and days where I've resented the hell out of Bonnie since Elena's been gone, but that's already started to fade, because in spite of everything, I'm happy that she is here. The reason i hesitated to save her isn't because I resent her, it's because for that one millisecond when I saw the truck, all I could think about was what it would mean to have Elena back, and I forgot about what I would have to lose for that to happen. But instead of simply apologising and telling her how stupid I was and how I wouldn't survive without her, I let her believe that I do resent her.

"How else am I supposed to feel, Bonnie? You're here, she's not. Every time I look at you all I see is not Elena."

She looks taken aback and hurt, and I curse myself for being this way. For never being able to admit that I care and instead putting on facade of being the most insensitive person on the planet.

She sighs lightly and then says, "I'm so sorry this happened, but I lost Elena too, Damon. And you're one of the few reminders of her I have to hold onto, so you can resent me or love me...but you're stuck with me."

Her voice is soft when she speaks and she holds my gaze for a few moments, before turning and walking away. I remain standing in the middle of the road, unable to move, stunned by her words. What did she say? I can resent her or...love her? Love? Me? Bonnie Bennett? Me love Bonnie Bennett? As if...

* * *

 

After we finally found Ric, we grabbed our stuff from the hotel and jumped onto the next flight back to Virginia. As much as I would like to be able to tick off every bar in Europe as being one I've drank at, I can't ignore my duties back home, as Bonnie keeps reminding me. Stefan and the others are up against it with Lily and the heretics and I can't avoid Mystic Falls forever...unfortunately. We're almost three hours into the flight, which means there's only five more to go. The last minute booking means that we were lumbered with the only remaining seats and I'm stuck sitting on a row with a newly wed couple returning home from their honeymoon, who are now both asleep, thank god. I think if I heard one more "no, baby I love you the mostest" or screechy, gleeful giggle, I would've thrown them out of the window. Ric is a few rows behind, sound asleep and Bonnie is on the same row as me, on the opposite side of the plane. I can see her from where I am, with her head resting against the window, magazine open on her lap and headphones on. I see her lips slightly move as she sings along to the music and she's completely unaware that I'm watching her, and that for the last three hours I have thought of nothing other than her brush with death in Amsterdam. It's funny, I only started to care for Bonnie out of obligation to Elena but somewhere along the way I grew to care for her for real and when we both just happened to be stuck on The Other Side together, I formed a bond with her that I never thought possible, that has led to me caring for her so much that I have chosen her life above Elena's twice. I think back to the promise I made Elena the night that Bonnie first died. I told her that I would always choose her, that if it came down to her and Bonnie again in the future I would let Bonnie die without question. The strangest part is, in my mind I still think that. I love Elena and I want her back more than anything, but...there's something inside me that just can't seem to let Bonnie die, even if it means getting Elena back, and that concerns and terrifies me.

I'm so used to Elena dictating every part of my life, of her being the most important person in my world, of loving her more than anyone else, of her being the person that makes me happiest, but I find myself thinking about her less with each passing minute, and she's only been gone for just over three weeks. What will be left of her in 60 years? The first weeks I spent on The Other Side I was wracked with agony at being apart from her, and although that pain never went away, I learned to live with it. But when I was re-united with her again, I was so blissfully happy that I could not imagine being away from her for even a second. And yet here I am without her again and I feel...I don't know what I feel. All I know is that something isn't right. I don't miss her as much as I know I should, and I have always worn my heart on my sleeve, never able to conceal my true intentions or internal processes, but for the first time I feel conflicted and unsure. I don't know what's going on inside me or why, and that isn't Damon Salvatore.

I lift myself up from my seat with my hand and reach into my back pocket for my phone. I go to photos, in the hopes that seeing Elena's face will remind me of who I am. I start from the photos taken this year, which are mostly of Elena and I. I particularly got camera happy in our last days together, so overwhelmed with joy to be back with her that I didn't want to forget even a second of it. There's photos of us in bed, eating dinner, in the car, of every significant and insignificant moment we spent together. In every single one, Elena's smile is as radiantly beautiful as it always has been, and even seeing her face on the screen stirs something inside me. Maybe it's love or maybe it's reminiscent nostalgia, all I know is that when I come to a picture of Bonnie and me, it's different. My heart stops in my chest, my skin grows hot and my stomach lurches. I don't recognise where we are, and I don't even remember the photo being taken. It's dated a couple of weeks ago and I'm assuming that a drunken Ric took it accidentally, because it's been taken from across the table at a lopsided angle and is slightly blurred. Bonnie is mid-sentence and pulling a hideous expression, with her eyebrows furrowed, her mouth half open and her hand up in the air, whilst I sit across from her. It's a snapshot in time, a moment I can't even recall, but the way my eyes are intensely fixed on her, my mouth open slightly, as though she is the moon itself...it sends a cold shiver down my spine. I go back through photos of Elena and I and find one that was taken by Jeremy in the summer we first got together. He'd bought a new camera and thought himself a fancy photographer, claiming that art was all around us just waiting to be captured, and when one night he showed us the shots he'd taken, I was completely dismissive and counting down the seconds until it was over so I could take Elena to bed. Until he came to this one. It's of Elena and I, we're sat on the couch in front of the fireplace. She has a book open on her lap and is immersed in it, completely unaware of me sitting beside her and gazing down on her, as though she's the only person in the world. I quickly swipe my finger across the screen to get back to the photo of Bonnie and I and exhale deeply. I recognise the look in my eye as being the same look that I had on the photo of Elena and I. My hands fall into my lap and I scoff to myself, shaking my head. No, no. No...it can't be. I'm just...I'm confused. Being on The Other Side, coming back, finding out Elena compelled her memories of me, her taking the cure, finding out Lily is still alive and Elena going into a coma...it's all left me confused. It's been too much, that's all it is.

But then my brain goes into overload, as all the pieces sync together instantaneously. My inability to walk away from Bonnie on The Other Side no matter how annoying she got, the anguish when she sent me home without her, the ache in my chest of not being with her that drove me to call her voicemail just to hear her voice, the desperate need to find a way to bring her back home and the guilt when I failed to be there for her, the overwhelming ecstatic joy and relief that exploded in me when I saw her standing in my kitchen, the warmness that filled my being when she jumped into my arms and clung to me tight, killing Kai and feeding her my blood to save her life, the vague sense of calmness that I've felt over these passing weeks despite Elena being gone, pushing her out of the way of the car in Amsterdam...Every single moment I've spent with her and apart from her makes sense. Suddenly it feels that I'm the one that's been hit by that silver truck, and I blink rapidly as the memories of the last few months flow before my eyes one after the other putting an end to all confusion.

I shift my head to the left to look at Bonnie, whose eyes still on the magazine in front of her. My heart swells, my breath catches in my throat and I tilt my head to the side. She's still the same Bonnie she's always been; witch, bookworm, best friend of Elena, except that now she's my best friend and I see her through new eyes now, as though it's the first time I've truly seen her at all. I can finally see clearly, and the only reason I didn't see it sooner is because I was scared. For 146 years, I was consumed by my love for Katherine and for the last 3 years, it's been Elena, and despite all of their differences, there was something about being with them that always felt similar, and not just because they share the same face, but because of the way they make me feel. As though I'm out of control, a slave to my emotions, ruled by passion and fire. It's all I've ever known, they are all I've ever known and the thought of changing that, of opening my heart to someone else, of changing me...I wasn't ready. I'm still not ready. She must sense my eyes on her, because she slowly lifts her head and looks over at me. I swallow nervously, but don't look away. For a moment, her face remains stony and I expect her to just look back down at her magazine, after all, she's still mad at me about what happened in Amsterdam, but she doesn't. She meets my eyes and then smiles a small, heartfelt smile and the forgiveness she has not yet verbally expressed is given in that moment, and I know that for all my wrong doings by her, for some unforeseeable reason she sees something in me. A me, that no one else has ever seen before; a me, that I'd almost forgotten existed myself, until she awoke it in me.

* * *

 

I've only been back on American soil for 5 hours and I'm already ready to jump back on a plane and travel to the other side of the world. The town is devoid of life, a bunch of psychopathic heretics are living in my house and yet again we face impending doom. I have a box of stuff in my hand that I managed to retrieve from the house and I aimlessly walk the dimly lit, eerie streets at a loss of where to go or what to do. My head is spinning, and so I perch myself on a bench, slam the box down beside me and reach for the bottle of bourbon that sits on top of it. I stare up at the clock tower that Elena and I jumped off just weeks ago, both of us unaware of the events that were about to unfold. It's already barely a memory and as quickly as Elena enters my mind, thoughts of Bonnie push her out, which I have come to realise is an emerging pattern. This time I don't just sit on my ass whilst my mind ticks over, analysing every aspect of Bonnie and my relationship with her. I had 8 hours to do that on the plane and I'm already done with it, so instead I drop the bottle back onto the box, take it in my arms and speed off towards Whitmore without a second thought.

When I arrive on campus Bonnie is out, so I happily let myself into her dorm room and dump the box at the bottom of her bed. Despite her being away for three weeks the room still smells like her. Lavender and peppermint and earth. It's a smell that is so familiar to me, that it makes me feel as though I've finally returned home. I look at the photos that line the cabinet. They're of all of us; me, Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Matt, Jeremy. Somehow in between trying to defeat Katherine and Original vampires, we still found the time to sit down for a couple of minutes, plaster huge grins on our faces and actually convince the camera that we were happy. I gently trace my finger over Elena's face on her graduation day and then my hand hovers over the metallic, gold photo frame that sits beside it. I take it up in my hands and perch myself on the bed. Bonnie's face stares back at me over her shoulder, hair windswept, black leather jacket wrapped about her. It's the same photo I held the night I called her voicemail, when I desperately sought the sound of her voice if only for a second. I can still clearly remember the way I felt that day; out of place and disconnected. Tonight I feel the same way and I have once again found myself here. I hear footsteps coming up the stairs and speed over to the cabinet, placing the frame back where it was and by the time Bonnie has reached the top of the stairs and has opened the door, I'm sitting on the bed, nonchalant, bourbon bottle in hand.

"What are you doing here?" she asks.

I keep my back to her and once again I pretend. This time I pretend that the only reason I'm here is because my house is currently occupied by a bunch of heretics, but the truth is, I think I would've found myself here tonight even if it wasn't.

"Have you been to Mystic Falls? There is a heretic clipping his gnarly heretic toenails in my master bath right now. I have...no where else to go."

The last part is a lie and a bad one. I could've gone anywhere, but I didn't, I came here.

"So, I guess it's a good thing I didn't get hit by a truck, huh?" she says, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.

I sigh. "Come on, Bonnie. It was three seconds."

"Do you know how long three seconds are in a life or death situation?"

I feel a flush of anger go through me. She has no idea what has been going through my head all day and I have to tell her. I swing around to face her and say, "In the first second...I thought about how amazing it would be to have Elena in my arms again, by second number two I kissed her and by the third..." I slam the bourbon bottle down and get up from the bed and walk towards her. "...I remembered you're my best friend and that if anything happened to you I would lose my mind." I reach out to her, taking her arms in my hands and look her squarely in the eye ending with, "So, yes, Bonnie, I do know how long three seconds are."

I keep my eyes locked on hers for a few moments and all I can hear is my own heart thudding in my chest. I let go of her arms and step away, disorientated by the intensity of whatever it is that is happening inside of me. I walk away and put my hand to my head and when I turn back to look at her, she has that look on her face that she always has whenever I compliment her or save her life or make a comment that even remotely hints that I might actually care for her. Oh, if only she knew...

"Just checking," she replies after a few seconds, the hint of a smile on her lips.

"You're stuck with me, too." I add and she looks up at me through her lashes, her green eyes sincere and warm.

* * *

 

The town is a barren wasteland, the streets lined with boarded up windows and abandoned cars. Everything around me is dark and grey, the air is thick and blustery gales cause piles of leaves to flow around me erratically in circles. I hold my arm up to my eyes, to shield them from the sediment that is being blown around. I swing around on the spot, desperately searching for someone, anyone, and then I call out, "HELLO! IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?!" at the top of my lungs, but the wind is so powerful that it takes my breath away and the words don't come out as loudly as I would've hoped. Suddenly a bright white light shines from up ahead, causing me to fall back a few paces with my eyes squeezed shut. The light slowly begins to decrease in intensity and I peer through a slit in my eyes, to see a dark silhouette emerging from within the light. The dark figure grows closer and closer, and as it does I begin to recognise it's form, and suddenly the light burns out completely to reveal who it is.

Colour returns to the world instantly. The leaves on the ground emerge in various shades of orange and red, the sky turns blue once again and the sun burns a stunning yellow from behind her.

Elena.

My body stiffens and my heart stops. She stands on the spot, her long hair flowing in the wind, her eyes alight with life, her skin olive, her face pulled up into a wide, content smile. All of the muscles in my body flex at once and I sprint to her, but my vampire speed doesn't take affect. I run at the speed of a human and each second that it takes for me to reach her feels like an eternity. And then I have her. She's in my arms, the warmness of her flowing into me, spreading throughout my body. I cling to her, gripping her so tightly that I'm surprised she doesn't split into two. My hands frantically grab at her back and her hair, as I pull her in closer to me, never wanting to let her go again. I can feel her body is animated with life once again, as her human heart beats steadily against my chest. Her arms are wrapped around me and I feel her nestling her face into me hard, letting me know she's missed me as much as I've missed her. I pull her back and then press my lips to hers, hard and fast, unable to withstand another second without her kiss.

"Elena. Elena. Oh, Elena," I murmur against her mouth. "I missed you. I love you."

Suddenly a voice echoes on the wind, calling out to me. The voice isn't hers and I pull away and look down at her with a frown. The familiar voice calls my name again and I spin my head around, seeking the source of the voice. Then she appears on the grass, across the road from where Elena and I stand, our arms still interlaced. She stands, firm and tall, her green eyes fixated on me. I pull my arms free of Elena and twist on the spot to face her.

"Bonnie," I say, my voice a heavy and quiet whisper.

The world falls grey once again, the howling wind returning along with it.

She nods her head once and then says, "I suppose you're happy. This is what you've been waiting for since the day you saved my life."

"No, I..." I stammer pathetically. She cuts me off with a shrill scream that vibrates off my eardrums and echoes around us.

"You never cared about me, it was always her. All you ever cared about was Elena," she says her voice unrecognisably cruel and harsh. I shake my head, but she continues on. "Well, you've got your wish, Damon, because there she is." She points at Elena and I turn to face her. She's unflinchingly still, her features frozen and I should be concerned, but I turn straight back to Bonnie.

"Bonnie..."

"Let me guess. You're sorry?" she scoffs. "Get over yourself, Damon. You're not sorry, you're thankful. You said it yourself, whenever you look at me all you see is not Elena."

It's true, when I look at her, I don't see Elena, because all I see her. I see Bonnie and she's all I want to see.

"All I ever did was try to help you, and Elena, everyone, but do I get any thanks? No. Instead you devoted every second to reminding me that the only reason I was alive was because of you. Because you sacrificed Elena for me. You never stopped punishing me or hating me for it. But what could I do, Damon? What could I have done differently?"

Her words cut me deep, until all I can do is yell, "I know! I know! Okay? I know. I didn't mean...I didn't mean to..."

"Oh, of course you meant to. You can live your life now, with Elena, knowing that the person responsible for you losing your girlfriend is dead. Gone forever."

I feel my chest grow heavy and I step towards her, unable to hear another word. "No, no. No..." I whisper. I don't want to lose Bonnie, I can't.

She tilts her head to the side and emotion comes to her face, making her look like my Bonnie again.

"You could've saved me, Damon. I needed you," she says, her voice soft and tortured, tears glistening in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I say, biting my lip so hard that it draws blood. "I take it back, I take it all back. I've been so stupid, so scared, but I'll get you back, Bonnie, I promise. Whatever it takes. I failed you once when you were on The Other Side, but I won't do it again, because I lov-"

Suddenly I'm thrown from the ground into the sky, like a rag doll. All I see is Bonnie's face growing smaller and smaller as my limbs frantically scramble to get back to her and all that fills my brain is the sound of my voice desperately screaming her name.

I jerk in the bed, my eyes shooting open to darkness. I speed over to the light and switch it on, then breathe a heavy sigh of relief when I see the familiar sight of Bonnie's dorm room. I bend over, clutching the wall with one hand. My heart is still racing in my chest, as the vision of Bonnie's face and the sound of her voice play on repeat in my head. I wait for the terror to subside and for my consciousness to catch up to reality, and when it does, I let go of the wall and stand up straight. I look at the three beds lined in front of me, the first neatly made, the second with the sheets strewn off from where I've just thrown them and the last with the sheets delicately pulled back and folded.

"Bonnie," I whisper.

Where is she? Where's she gone? The questions bombard me instantly, as panic takes hold. Usually logic would enable me to weigh up the possibilities of where she could be and put an end to this unnecessary panic, but the thought of losing her is still at the forefront of my mind and so I immediately speed off to go and look for her. I frantically search the campus for her, whilst ringing her phone, but she doesn't answer and I see no sign of her. When I reach the car park I notice that her car is gone and know that there's only one reason she would take her car. She's gone to Mystic Falls.

I take off for Mystic Falls at full speed, my muscles working so hard that they burn underneath my flesh. Before I've even crossed the border of Mystic Falls, I'm calling out Bonnie's name. I whip through the trees, heading for the lights of the town, still shouting out her name as I go. When I reach the end of the trees I stop hard and fast in the center of town. I close my eyes and listen intently for the sound of her voice, and the moment I do I sprint towards it. I come up behind the figure of a man, whose chanting is causing Bonnie to double over and groan in pain, and I reach into his chest with my bare hand, ripping his beating and bloody heart right from his very center. His body flops to the ground lifelessly and Bonnie gasps and coughs for air as the spell comes to an abrupt end with his life. I go up to her and place my hand on her back.

"Bonnie," I sigh, my entire body sinking with relief. "Are you okay?"

She rubs at her throat with her hand and nods. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

My body practically shakes with the joy of seeing that she is still alive and breathing, and I can't seem to take my eyes off her. She moves her gaze down to my hand which is now resting on her arm and I awkwardly pull away.

"What are you doing here, Bonnie? What were you thinking? You could've gotten yourself killed," I say, scathingly.

"I just wanted to come back and see what it was like for myself. And then I saw him feeding on someone and I thought I could stop him, but I.." she trails off and shakes her head.

"Well, you better be thankful that I got here when I did."

She stands up right, sighs lightly and then says, "I am, I am. Now...I might be wrong but I think that's twice in two days that you've saved my life. I guess we really are stuck with each other."

The word "stuck" makes it sound as though it's a punishment to be with her, which once I might've considered it to be, but not anymore.

"Looks like it," I reply. A smile slowly grows upon my face, along with hers and I know that the next time her life is threatened I will save her again, and the time after that, and the time after that, because somehow along the way the very person I least expected has become the person that matters most to me and I will do everything in my power to keep her safe. And as I continue to hold her gaze and return her smile with the same sincerity and adoration she has in hers, I realise that from this day forward, I will always choose Bonnie Bennett, because...I love her.


End file.
